Abstract:

Prolonged sitting and sedentary behavior comprises a major part of the modern lifestyle: at work, leisure (watching television, Internet) and commuting/traveling, and this has been implicated in the prevalence of overweight and obesity. The study sought to assess the degree of knowledge of a population of non‐governmental staff in AkwaIbom state Nigeria on the health effects of overweight and obesity. A questionnaire was administered through direct interview to fifty (n‐50) staff in FHI360 AkwaIbom state office, Nigeria who gave verbal consent (Non‐Health Personnel (n=23), Laboratory Personnel (n=8), Doctor (n=15), and Pharmacist (n=4).82% of respondents have an appreciable knowledge of the health effects of overweight/obesity, 95.5% the causes, while 74.5% are aware that BMI (body Mass Index) can be used as a monitoring tool for overweight/obesity, however, only a total 42.8% of respondents knew their BMI. There is therefore an urgent need to create an avenue in form of health fare for the study population to determine their BMI and improve their lifestyle/health seeking behavior to avoid the adverse health effects of overweight/obesity. 

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